I read the news today, oh boy

A local woman, shot twice in the face by her husband Friday morning, escaped to a neighbor's house where she frantically called police and worried about the well-being of her children who were left in the home.

"She kept saying, 'My kids, my kids,'" said Madonna Healy, who sheltered the injured woman until police arrived a short time later.

As an ambulance rushed Andrea Mayer, 37, of 1510 Jones St., to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center, police armed themselves with ballistic shields and prepared to force their way into the home where her husband and two children remained.

They discovered Gary Mayer, 35, dead on the bedroom floor from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the children, ages 12 and 4, unharmed in another area of the house.

An early morning argument appears to have prompted the shooting, said Fred Hayes, deputy chief with the Police Department.

According to an announcement published in The Local Rag five years ago, Friday was to have been the couple's five-year wedding anniversary.

It ended in bloodshed when Gary Mayer returned home at 5 a.m. from a late night of drinking and dart playing.

According to police, the couple, who have competed in national dart tournaments with a local team called Suzie's Boyz, had gone out the night before to drink and play darts, but Andrea decided to return home around 9 p.m. while Gary remained out a little while longer.

When her husband didn't show up by 11 p.m., Andrea started calling him on his cell phone but got no response.

She went to bed a short time later and didn't awake until Gary returned home about 5 a.m., Hayes said.

An argument ensued and Gary stormed off to the bedroom while Andrea went to lie down on the couch, according to police reports.

Just as she was starting to fall asleep, Andrea opened her eyes and found her husband standing over her.

He placed a pillow over her face and shot through it twice, said Hayes. The woman then jumped up from the couch and ran out of the house as her husband chased her and fired again.

The children were asleep in their beds.

[snip]

The Healys remained in their home, shaken by the incident.

"We're not used to stuff like this happening," said Madonna Healy. "It's a fairly quiet neighborhood."

Even though the couple lived across the street from the Mayers for nearly five years and even had the 12-year-old over to play with their daughter several times, they weren't that familiar with the family.

"She was the more friendly of the two," said Madonna Healy. "He wasn't very friendly ... He didn't seem like a very happy man."

There's one less asshole in the world today, thank God he took himself out. My guess is he was playing "darts" until 5AM, with the dart he was born with. It was apparently commanding his thinking when he decided to go home and kill the mother of his children. Bastard. What is it that brings one human being to the point where he feels he has to kill another human being?